Respawn 7

We’re at the end of another fantastic year of gaming, and that can only mean one thing – it’s time for the next installment of The Eighty Sixth Floor’s ever-popular Respawn series!

Respawn 7 collects together the best tracks from some of 2014’s biggest hitters in one fantastic value collection. From the lush, orchestral strings of Destiny to the bouncing brass of Tomodachi Life, and everything else in between, these are the tracks every gamer should be listening to!

Check out our full track-by-track introduction to the best gamer music of the past six months, brought together for the first time in this exclusive collection.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

While a new game appearing in the COD fold wasn’t exactly a surprise, what Advanced Warfare did in terms of mixing up the franchise’s combat style made this one of the must-have games of 2014. The ominous opening theme is one of the best parts of the score, and will be hugely familiar to COD players.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity – ‘Unity’

The game itself may have experienced a few teething problems, but thankfully the music from Assassin’s Creed: Unity isn’t likely to glitch out on you any time soon. Combining the epic classical strings you might expect with rave-like synths that evoke the game’s more modern, animus-related events, it’s an old-meets-new mash-up worthy of the next-gen upgrade.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

One of the most anticipated game releases of 2014, Dragon Age: Inquisition is without doubt, one of the best RPGs of recent years. Of course, its epic gameplay wouldn’t be the same without an epic soundtrack. Its mixture of thundering drums and soaring strings make it the perfect accompaniment for some hardcore grinding.*

Destiny

It was a long time coming, but when Budgie’s Destiny finally hit consoles earlier this year, it was a pretty astonishing feat of game design. While many people focused on the Paul McCartney saga as far as the music was concerned, the score was easily one of the best we heard this year, ethereal but packing a real punch (much like the game itself.)

Far Cry 4

The latest entry in the always-challenging Far Cry series, Far Cry 4 took us deep into the Himalayas, where a self-appointed king holds a people to violent ransom. The soundtrack’s unique blend of orchestral, electronic and traditional Himalayan instrumentation did much the same for gamers, and made it one of the most immersive playing experiences of the year.

Tomodachi Life

If the Sims and the Wii had a love child, Tomodachi Life would be it. The soundtrack encompasses everything from love to heartbreak to plain old happiness, and while it was hard to choose a specific track, we had to go with the lounge-influenced main theme. Brilliant fun, and incredibly catchy!

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!

When it comes to putting the fun in First-Person Shooters, you can’t do much better than the latest entry in the Borderlands franchise. Not only does it boast some of the most exciting visuals and gameplay mechanics around, but its rock-heavy soundtrack makes shooting lasers feel more bad-ass than ever before.

Alien: Isolation

You’d be hard pressed to find a gameplay experience more terrifying than Alien: Isolation in 2014. Pitting a lone survivor against one of cinema’s most ionic killers, it made for some seriously stressful encounters, not helped by just how unsettling the soundtrack proved to be. Even listening to this one makes our hairs stand on end!

Risen 3: Titan Lords

Risen 3 saw Piranha Bytes’ RPG franchise return to its medieval roots, immersing players in an open world map where the small matter of the player’s soul is at stake. The blend of staccato rhythms and a soaring lead melody instantly launch us into its world of magic and monsters, and we just can’t get enough.

Sniper Elite 3

Plunging players into the North African deserts of World War II, Sniper Elite 3 took stealth operations to a whole new level. If the missions weren’t already tense enough, the soundtrack’s uncompromising arrangement had the sweat dripping down players’ foreheads before they could say ‘sun-screen’. A fantastic edge-of-your-seat listen.

Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark

One of the biggest movie tie-ins of the year, the latest addition to the Transformers franchise was a game that made a good go of replicating the high-octane thrills of Michael Bay’s reimagined Optimus and Co. The score combined robotic electronics and powerful classical motifs to create a musical soundscape perhaps better than the game itself.

Metro Redux – ‘Menu Theme’

It’s not often that a Ukrainian survival horror game captures the attention of gamers world wide, but when Metro 2033 got its next-gen re-master, it did just that. Renamed Metro Redux, it made for an edge-of-your-seat play that cranked up the tension from the moment you loaded the menu screen. Its haunting, distorted soundtrack certainly helps in that respect.